Gordon R. Clogston
on August 31 2010
I recently Tweeted “To be the best you can be, you may have to reduce the scope of what you are attempting to be.” One of my followers responded with “Why do you believe that? How did you get there?” As I formulated my response I concluded that it might be of value to expound on this topic and present it as a blog post so that others could learn from my experience and perhaps share their thoughts.
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“Visions of grandeur supported by a false sense of ability.”
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My first significant management role occurred when I was recruited to be the “Global Training Manager” for a high-tech manufacturing company headquartered in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Though I had over 10 years of experience as an instructor, course developer, and training supervisor, the scope of being responsible for all product training, internal and external, for a 50 million dollar company was a little daunting. I had a clear understanding, or so I thought, of what the success factors for the training organization was, but being a contributing member of the management team was not as clear, but I ventured boldly forth in ignorance. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: coaching, Leadership, management, mentoring, new job, Promotion
Filed under General, Leadership
Gordon R. Clogston
on August 17 2010
A significant part of customer retention is having a business model that makes it easy for customers to do business with you. Customer service should not stop at the trouble desk. Instead, it should permeate the entire company, especially to those in roles that have contact with customers, including those who are often are in the background, e.g., accounts receivable personnel.
Is This The View You Present to Your Customers?
This fundamental approach to business requires companies to have and live by a genuine customer focus. To be genuine, a customer focus must be translated into policies, procedures, and a way of interacting with customers that is truly service oriented. If companies allow themselves to lose their customer focus, it is easy for people within the organization to begin seeing customers as interruptions to their work flow. This negative attitude toward customers influences how people interact with customers in person and through systems implementation. Combined, the effects of these things affect how customers perceive how easy it is to do business with your company—and how they feel about you.
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Tags: customer focus, Customer Retention, customer service, Leadership, management, Sales
Filed under General
Tom Brooksher
on August 10 2010
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi is often credited with saying, “A tie is like kissing your sister.” Now, for all I know, his sister was hot. But if you interpret the quote the traditional way, I’d suggest it could also be applied to consulting. While a good consulting job is better than not working, it’s still less than fulfilling.
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“Playing the game is fine, but to win, you need a strategy and a plan.”
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Don’t get me wrong, I like helping others to build their companies. And if they’re willing to pay me well to help them do it, consulting is not a bad thing. BUT, I don’t fool myself into thinking that consulting is an end. For most people, I believe, it should be a means to an end.
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Tags: Business, Career Path, consulting, intrinsic value, management, strategy
Filed under General, Small Business
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